UK police colluded with construction bosses

Independent police watchdog fingers police officers across the country for allegedly providing information on workers for a blacklist of over 3,000 names which was drawn up by one of Britain’s biggest construction companies.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has informed
the lawyers representing the victims of the backlist that a
Scotland Yard inquiry has found that it was “likely that all
special branches were involved in providing information” for
the blacklist.

The disclosure by the IPCC confirms suspicions first raised last
year by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), an
independent public body, which aims to uphold the freedom of
information deemed to be in the public interest.

The blacklist was run by a company called the Consulting
Association and was funded by 40 of the biggest names in the
construction industry, including Sir Robert McAlpine, Balfour
Beatty and Laing O’ Rourke.

Proof that it existed was found after a raid by the ICO in 2009
on the office of a construction company in Droitwich,
Worcestershire. Since then the victims have been fighting a legal
battle to find out who was providing information against them and
the admission by the IPCC is considered a major
breakthrough.

Lawyers and campaigners for the 3,200 construction workers
affected say the revelation now provides “absolute
evidence” that the state conspired with the industry, the
Guardian reports.

Last year, the Investigations Officer at the ICO, David Clancy,
told one of the tribunals adjudicating claims against
construction giant Carillion, “there is information on the
Consulting Association files that I believe could only be
supplied by the police or the security services. The information
was so specific and it contained in effect operational
information that wouldn't have formed anything other than a
police record."

Dave Smith was one of the workers on the list. He has a 36 page
file under his name and was repeatedly victimized for
highlighting safety hazards, including the presence of Asbestos
on building sites.

“For the past five years, when we have been saying the police
were involved, we were told we were talking nonsense and it was a
conspiracy theory. They wanted it to go away. Now we have the
absolute evidence that this is no longer about industrial
relations but is a major human rights scandal involving a
conspiracy between the police and the industry,” he told the
Observer.

Working in the construction industry is still one of the most
dangerous jobs in the UK. Despite improvements in safety in
recent years, in 2012 77 people died in accidents on construction
sites in the UK.

Sir Robert McAlpine, was allegedly one of the key players in
funding and compiling the blacklist, and is being sued in the
high court over an unlawful conspiracy to amass a database on
thousands of people.

And last week, in what may seem to be an admission of guilt,
eight major construction companies including Sir Robert McAlpine,
said they would be compensating some of the 3,213 workers who
were on the blacklist.
The eight companies said in statement, “The Companies all
apologize for their involvement with the Consulting Association
and the impact that its database may have had on any individual
construction workers.”

But in a letter seen by the Observer newspaper, a senior
detective insists that the IPCC’s statement implicating the
police is incorrect. Detective inspector Steve Craddock says that
he has seen “no conclusive evidence” that Scotland Yard
shared information with the blacklisters.

Craddock is investigating an inquiry into the activities of
undercover police officers known as Operation Herne. Operation
Herne is due to report on the blacklisting matter to the
Metropolitan (London) police commissioner in due course.

However the IPCC said that its disclosure about the blacklisting
was informed by previous discussions with the Metropolitan
Police.